tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46031127436735040832024-03-15T21:09:34.305-04:00Lean and MeaningfulKey Learnings on Continuous and Breakthrough Improvement by Using Lean, TPS and Six SigmaJaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-60029945230953032632017-07-23T16:01:00.000-04:002017-07-23T16:01:28.689-04:00A3 Paso 3 - Definicion del ObjetivoEl Paso 3 - "Definir el objetivo" es una consequencia logica de completar el Paso 2 o Analisis de la Situacion Actual. Requiere que el problema grande y vago, p.e. "Falta de capacidad", pueda ser mejor entendido y transformado en pequenos y mas specificos problemas en los que uno puede concentrarse y resolver. <div>
Entonces "Falta de capacidad" se convierte en "50% de tiempos muertos en proceso cuello de botella XYZ."<div>
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De hecho, el paso 2 lo llamo "Romper el problema" en el Memory Jogger como traduccion directa de "Break down the problem" - por que es el objetivo de analizar la condicion actual es entenderlo en sus partes. <div>
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Un error tipico en el Paso 3 es parafrasear la definicion del problema como objetivo. Asi "Falta de capacidad" erroneamente se convierte en "incrementar capacidad por un 25% para el 15 de Julio...". Que hay de malo con ello? No sirve. Un objetivo vago con el anterior es una muestra clara que el paso 2 no se ha entendido aun. El Paso 3 requiere mayor especificidad. el bien objetivo deberia parecerse mas a: "Reducir los tiempos muerto por 30% en proceso XYZ...".</div>
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Una forma grafica para entender como el Paso 3 es resultado directo de completar el Paso 2 se presenta abajo: </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsxZrDcs_GL2MlTbfM7EqP4n3MLjuXLIP3eGhBeLo8TSCKvcL2fyPm3li5PX1Eu5Rv0RaCbnavAPAGPMaAaqjdzzHaM__Nh_BnxDtu2Yv0UJHaAvEAAcaHQXwj0SjGrKg7CoUYApCl0gY/s1600/breakdown+the+problem.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="495" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsxZrDcs_GL2MlTbfM7EqP4n3MLjuXLIP3eGhBeLo8TSCKvcL2fyPm3li5PX1Eu5Rv0RaCbnavAPAGPMaAaqjdzzHaM__Nh_BnxDtu2Yv0UJHaAvEAAcaHQXwj0SjGrKg7CoUYApCl0gY/s1600/breakdown+the+problem.PNG" /></a></div>
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La percepcion inicial del problema se desdobla - rompe - en problemas a traves de la observacion directa de los procesos, en problemas mas pequenos y mas especificos y luego se priorizan para entender el punto de occurencia donde debemos concentrarnos. </div>
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Usando el cono de Toyota's Practical Problem Solving, El Paso 3 - Localizar el Punto de Causa corresponde a definir el objetivo antes de comenzar la investigacion de la causa raiz. Note que hasta el paso 3, es "Grasp the Situation" que significa "Entender la situacion Actual"</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlcp6wQjHod40Ufbm1GXoN7aenDv3JhS-mIVm6f4QAJ3r7YLjXlgjTH887EvDFJyxVsAe-m6OKYOEUY47wakniTc7kIqksMkLWXR4v2Cgqf2Z8GSdKOBfmfS6i32ZafWYEZY1Or7NgBck/s1600/ProblemSolving_Figure1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlcp6wQjHod40Ufbm1GXoN7aenDv3JhS-mIVm6f4QAJ3r7YLjXlgjTH887EvDFJyxVsAe-m6OKYOEUY47wakniTc7kIqksMkLWXR4v2Cgqf2Z8GSdKOBfmfS6i32ZafWYEZY1Or7NgBck/s1600/ProblemSolving_Figure1.jpg" /></a></div>
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jaimelv72http://www.blogger.com/profile/12590215774938969683noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-1058994697851060292017-07-21T09:51:00.000-04:002017-07-21T11:13:52.796-04:00Eliminating bolts and nutsIn SMED, bolts are the enemy. They take time to remove and place back.<br />
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<li><b>IMAO One-Touch Fasteners </b>is an amazing supplier of creative solutions. A must stop-shop for teams implementing SMED. They have a long list of solutions: <a href="https://www.imao.biz/en/onetouchchakudatsu_en.html">https://www.imao.biz/en/onetouchchakudatsu_en.html</a></li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSC4rKF0avAKD7tOemVz7AEHIT-xZ_M3rzwQ1JtQtq7EKMFPSS6NoKAKsgLapD2hQJpFfXgX2kOM3TAB3o4zgaLCRh29Jp2f-9MH02fQiXsZuQ3LJyd-WcPI14Jy7vg_dGkEFqbLfACjY/s1600/One-touch+fasteners+IMAO.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="820" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSC4rKF0avAKD7tOemVz7AEHIT-xZ_M3rzwQ1JtQtq7EKMFPSS6NoKAKsgLapD2hQJpFfXgX2kOM3TAB3o4zgaLCRh29Jp2f-9MH02fQiXsZuQ3LJyd-WcPI14Jy7vg_dGkEFqbLfACjY/s640/One-touch+fasteners+IMAO.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<li><b>Pipe fittings One-touch clamping are great solutions.</b> take a look: <a href="https://us.misumi-ec.com/vona2/detail/110302221040/">https://us.misumi-ec.com/vona2/detail/110302221040/</a></li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmp3MeHhfcrujKEu3ArvIfAE9gvcsLqfwIPaMmpXNed3m6UJfEiogL5wpDfMMKdOTARP6z01QzxPJn36ijqjAGYedz3zFVrWnQPjhJHcHPOvUxNluVZK1Y77WTLXE-PfliAlLaz2LHhY/s1600/One-Touch+clamp.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="477" data-original-width="774" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmp3MeHhfcrujKEu3ArvIfAE9gvcsLqfwIPaMmpXNed3m6UJfEiogL5wpDfMMKdOTARP6z01QzxPJn36ijqjAGYedz3zFVrWnQPjhJHcHPOvUxNluVZK1Y77WTLXE-PfliAlLaz2LHhY/s640/One-Touch+clamp.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<li><b>One-touch clamps brought thanks to IMAO</b>. See below below</li>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/y74i-u8iEq8/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y74i-u8iEq8?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<br />jaimelv72http://www.blogger.com/profile/12590215774938969683noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-89688597026748716392015-10-03T21:59:00.000-04:002015-10-05T22:38:59.245-04:00How to do line balancing (dedicated lines)?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Line balancing is a power tool to remove waste if you do it properly. Here are four steps for balancing a dedicated line (versus a shared or mixed product line) by using a simple example:<br />
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<b>1. Identify the process steps, materials and process time.</b> This step is usually done using a Process Graph (see figure 1.)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimwIjbS5vShig_SiCEt5GEiJUJ4qdpnMmbuIfOy2BRL7kEhf2K2bL7kaO97juqUTzfuo39Fz2x4_1I600GjhsP-BMveJipujcxPjVw7jGpNWjIKzTOFx44XZ8UXptGitOZsz7_xXLo4VFr/s1600/Process+Graph.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimwIjbS5vShig_SiCEt5GEiJUJ4qdpnMmbuIfOy2BRL7kEhf2K2bL7kaO97juqUTzfuo39Fz2x4_1I600GjhsP-BMveJipujcxPjVw7jGpNWjIKzTOFx44XZ8UXptGitOZsz7_xXLo4VFr/s320/Process+Graph.png" width="273" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Figure 1</td></tr>
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A Process Graph depicts each material or component in the sequence they are assembled together to create the final product. The process time at each assembly or process step is also included. </div>
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In the figure 1, materials and components are in blue (i.e. "Tubes") starting from top to bottom and from left to right. Assembly steps (i.e. "P1") are in yellow while the process time (i.e. "16 seconds") are in green. </div>
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For example, process P1 take 16 seconds to assembly Tubes using screws while process M2 requires the sub-assemblies completed by process M1 and P2 and it takes 6 seconds.</div>
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The final assembly is presented at the bottom (i.e. "Assembled Plug") </div>
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2. <b>Calculate the takt time.</b> Takt time gives you the production time required to meet the customer demand (the pace of the demand.) For our example we will assume 29 seconds per plug</div>
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<b>3. Group operations.</b> Starting at the top of the process graph (figure 2), add the the process time until the total time is equal or less Takt time. In the example, </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXvdJZ3n1-Delh5zB0hXh4kjEVErVo4Uus-QmS0ICt-G8RtalD2vG1T8vS4QNFeQpmOYQQbx3AZkF6cYlP4IBgxtdl5iULfRtYwRxDbSGUb3B3m8QB1PBxFz88KSdEqW0ak031-mpip3rP/s1600/Process+Graph+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXvdJZ3n1-Delh5zB0hXh4kjEVErVo4Uus-QmS0ICt-G8RtalD2vG1T8vS4QNFeQpmOYQQbx3AZkF6cYlP4IBgxtdl5iULfRtYwRxDbSGUb3B3m8QB1PBxFz88KSdEqW0ak031-mpip3rP/s320/Process+Graph+2.png" width="273" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Figure 2</td></tr>
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<li>Workstation 1: P1+M1+P2+M2 = 29 seconds</li>
<li>Workstation 2: M3+M4 = 28 seconds</li>
<li>Workstation 3: M5+M6 = 28 seconds</li>
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4. Build a Balancing Chart or Yamazumi Chart</b> by using magnets or post-it for each process within each workstation operation as shown in figure 3.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhALsR8R65gdG7b5zlH_0qqd_UzasQ7KYqugUo_9m08_gmzcKL7XnBxdXPLFeYIBI1-LiPQOVRij5waN3B4Z8lGEQ8zLcSr7SnDM4QtL_gNTW7U1YZvNTygNP398vijRlFSBUZfLIoD2rH4/s1600/Yamazumi+Chart.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhALsR8R65gdG7b5zlH_0qqd_UzasQ7KYqugUo_9m08_gmzcKL7XnBxdXPLFeYIBI1-LiPQOVRij5waN3B4Z8lGEQ8zLcSr7SnDM4QtL_gNTW7U1YZvNTygNP398vijRlFSBUZfLIoD2rH4/s320/Yamazumi+Chart.png" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>How to use the Balance Chart? </b><br />
The benefit of building a Yamazumi or Balance Chart is that actually you can "see" waste and opportunities for improvement. For instance,<br />
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<li>Any improvements to reduce the total cycle time in workstations 2 and 3 will not increase the overall line's throughput. In fact, improvements in these two stations will create more waste as idle time or waiting which is one of the 7 deadly wastes. Why? Because workstation 1 is the bottleneck (the one with the longest cycle time) "holding" the flow of production to 29 seconds even workstation 2 and 3 can run faster. </li>
<li>On the other hand, workstations 2 and 3 have 1 second each per every cycle. if we improve workstation 1 to 28 seconds, the overall line can produce one unit every 28 seconds. In that case, the line is evenly balanced and there is not waiting time. </li>
<li>However, if each workstation produces at 28 seconds, the line will be overproducing given that the takt time is 29 seconds. As you might know, overproduction is the worst waste as that would create additional waste such as inventory, transportation and others. </li>
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Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-91946699501154047682014-12-29T10:42:00.002-05:002015-03-15T23:40:21.466-04:00What can Americans and Scottish whiskey distilleries learn from the car industry?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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These days Americans and Scottish whiskey distilleries might feel uncomfortable on the news that <b>the title of the finest whiskey in the world has been given to their Japanese competitor</b> (<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/11204872/Scotland-loses-out-as-Japanese-whisky-named-best-in-the-world.html" target="_blank">The telegraph Nov 4, 2014</a>.)<br />
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The Yamazaki Single Malt Sherry Cask 2013 became the "World Whiskey of the Year" out of 4,500 others by the recognized connoisseur Jim Murray. However, this prize is perhaps just the tip of a long learning and continuous improvement journey. Yamazaki has been doing whisky since 1923 in Japan and <i>"Japanese distillers regularly wins whiskey competitions, even in Scotland"</i> (<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/11/05/japan-beats-scotland-to-win-worlds-best-whiskey-title/" target="_blank">Washington Post Nov 5, 2014</a>)</blockquote>
<b>How an Asian maker is beating its Scottish and Americas such as Jack Daniels in a craft that has been part of their history and tradition for hundreds of years?</b><br />
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Searching for an answer, I found little written about the reasons behind the Japanese whiskey successes. In an <a href="http://qz.com/290684/how-an-asian-country-beat-scotland-to-become-the-worlds-best-whisky-maker/" target="_blank">article</a> at qz.com, its author mentions two reasons: (1) a less rooted tradition that allowed experimentation and (2) good quality water:<br />
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"<i>New York Magazine’s Jordana Rothman points to the youth of Japan’s whisky industry, which she says makes it “less shacked to tradition.” Yamazaki also has the benefit of its mineral water which “is treasured enough to be bottled and sold on its own.” Its wood barrels, meanwhile, are made of a native oak, mizunara, which Rothman writes “impart an almost ecclesiastic perfume you won’t find in any Scotch.”</i></blockquote>
<b>More than just great quality water</b><br />
While the lack of tradition and the availability of great quality water may be necessary to create the finest whiskey in the world we must recognized they are absolutely not sufficient. Industry experts should look deeper and perhaps learn from the challenges of their counterparts in the car industry.<br />
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In the 70's and 80's, the American and European automobile industry faced a similar situation when Toyota challenged the status quo of the well established big 3 (GM, Ford and Chrysler.) It took several decades and a billions of dollars for these companies to recognize that need for change. It was in this context that the Toyota Production System was studied by MIT and other universities for the benefits of a diverse range of industries far beyond just the car industry or even manufacturing. Are there lessons learned from the car industry that whiskey makers should review? Or are they doomed to repeat the same struggles?<br />
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Feeling uncomfortable is not pleasant but it can be a great source to propel innovation and growth for all, even for people who don't drink or care about whiskey. What do you think?<br />
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Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-63710236701076980862014-09-08T16:37:00.000-04:002015-01-19T16:19:31.782-05:00Organizing a Lean office workplace<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Where do you want me to go now?"</td></tr>
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When helping teams to improve their office or transactional operations (i.e. <a href="http://asq.org/conferences/six-sigma/2009/pdf/proceedings/a6.pdf" target="_blank">Stanley Black & Decker</a>) I have been asked '<b>How should an office be organized to make value flow towards our customers with the minimum cost, time and errors?' </b><br />
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Although there are well proven solutions for organizing manufacturing workplace such as implementing U-shaped cells to tear down large batch production lines, little has been shared about designing office space using Lean principles. This post is an initial effort to address this void by discussing some important findings and sharing examples from companies such as <a href="http://www.kaastailored.com/Tours/Waste-Tours.aspx" target="_blank">Kaas Tailored</a> in the US and <a href="http://www.zibb.jp/electronics/profile/hoks+coltd./jp/oita/hayami-gun/879-1504/12402612" target="_blank">HOKS</a> in Japan that I had the opportunity to visit thanks to the <a href="http://us.kaizen.com/" target="_blank">Kaizen Institute</a>.<br />
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<b>How office workplace affects teams performance</b><br />
In the 70's, <a href="http://mitsloan.mit.edu/faculty/pdf/interaction.pdf" target="_blank">MIT professor Thomas Allen</a> led a series of experiments to understand what factors make some teams more innovative and effective than others. He discovered that the most relevant factor shared by innovative and highly effective teams is their physical proximity. In other words, teams that have their members very close are much more effective than similar teams that have their team members farther away.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The explanation behind this finding is based on how team members exchange critical information. Professor Allen found out that interpersonal communication rather than technical reports, publications, email or any other written documentation is the common means how teams collect and transfer relevant information. In practical terms, any documentation is most useful when knowledgeable people is directly available to explain and supplement its written instructions or content.</blockquote>
In this way, office spaces where people are separated by walls, cubes or other physical structures have lesser interpersonal communication and thus lower overall performance. On the other hand, workplaces in which people can quickly and effectively communicate allow teams to be more effective.<br />
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Professor Allen's conclusion supports the importance of information flow in an office environment. However, based on this finding, how should be set a lean office workplace be organized? Before answering this question let's review two relevant studies about workplace and team effectiveness.<br />
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<b>Developing smarter teams</b><br />
In 2010, <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/330/6004/686.abstract" target="_blank">two academics</a> from MIT identified that the smartest teams, better decision makers teams, were distinguished by three characteristics: (1) their members contributed more equally to the team's discussions, rather than letting one or two people dominate the group, (2) their members can better read emotional states, and (3) more women team members. This last characteristic, as explained by the study, it is not about diversity but related to the fact that women are better at reading emotions. What these findings have to do with a office workplace? A lot. Any office space that allows members to contribute equally and to better read their emotional state would definitive develop smarter teams.<br />
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<b>On-site versus online work</b> <br />
How online collaborative tools (Skype, email, etc.) would affect the way we organize office workplace? A new <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/Authors/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0115212" target="_blank">study</a> from <a href="http://cci.mit.edu/mciresearchpage.html" target="_blank">MIT Center for Collective Intelligence</a> identified that emotion-reading matters just as much for teams online teams or off-line. They findings indicated that it is not physical proximity but emotional perception what make the difference. However, reading emotions is much harder using a phone, email or Skype than in a face to face conversation.<br />
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<b>Examples for creating lean office workplace:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>I. Kaas Tailored USA</b></div>
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<a href="http://www.kaastailored.com/Tours/Waste-Tours.aspx" target="_blank">Kaas Tailored</a> is a company with many years practicing kaizen (continuous improvement.) Their office space has several interesting solutions from which we can learn a lot. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4drwJxGgbYcv2ga3in5GevwJXqJtoDQxthdA5Ot5RMhfGaTayiKtTBbMRwCGrrVyp5tAi9Oi4xEKgkjRMLqLAIa971ynZHcU90h_Kxd6BamCuWDhmtpK11e5BSUfsY05FxPhLgxKlcPys/s1600/Kaas+Tailored+USA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4drwJxGgbYcv2ga3in5GevwJXqJtoDQxthdA5Ot5RMhfGaTayiKtTBbMRwCGrrVyp5tAi9Oi4xEKgkjRMLqLAIa971ynZHcU90h_Kxd6BamCuWDhmtpK11e5BSUfsY05FxPhLgxKlcPys/s1600/Kaas+Tailored+USA.jpg" height="436" width="640" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4drwJxGgbYcv2ga3in5GevwJXqJtoDQxthdA5Ot5RMhfGaTayiKtTBbMRwCGrrVyp5tAi9Oi4xEKgkjRMLqLAIa971ynZHcU90h_Kxd6BamCuWDhmtpK11e5BSUfsY05FxPhLgxKlcPys/s1600/Kaas+Tailored+USA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4drwJxGgbYcv2ga3in5GevwJXqJtoDQxthdA5Ot5RMhfGaTayiKtTBbMRwCGrrVyp5tAi9Oi4xEKgkjRMLqLAIa971ynZHcU90h_Kxd6BamCuWDhmtpK11e5BSUfsY05FxPhLgxKlcPys/s1600/Kaas+Tailored+USA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><b>Avoiding stopping communication flow</b>. Contrary to traditional office space, their office layout does not have cubes or walls. The desks are organized forming a circle allowing information to flow quiet efficiently by rolling their chairs or just walking. </li>
<li><b>Health and flow</b>. Desks are high enough so people can work standing-up; however, they have high chairs if they wish to sit. There is a lot of evidence that sitting for long periods of time is bad for our health so stand-up desks with high chairs appear a great solution from health and flow perspective. </li>
<li><b>Continuous Improvement.</b> The office space is designed for experimentation. Power, network and phone cables are "dropped" so changes in the layout are easy to implement by the associates with limited need of facilities or contractors. Note that all desks are wheeled.</li>
<li><b>Visual.</b> The space is immersed in visual clues. By just standing, you can have a good idea of the information flow.</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ86DvAc9XaCrXeEn7tk0AOMb_jCc78ebs0g9_BITkJ3R1TwPBSLmHxtjB6RxLxRysZYRvtXfDjfx9aUCvhzWkHvHNyH5XWp0eRe4AVIEYs9DI0MlPIksvUnn6TTxY60yuHjpDu_dMEs-G/s1600/Kaas+Tailored+USA+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ86DvAc9XaCrXeEn7tk0AOMb_jCc78ebs0g9_BITkJ3R1TwPBSLmHxtjB6RxLxRysZYRvtXfDjfx9aUCvhzWkHvHNyH5XWp0eRe4AVIEYs9DI0MlPIksvUnn6TTxY60yuHjpDu_dMEs-G/s1600/Kaas+Tailored+USA+2.jpg" height="474" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZVWDIjEwnT3ktjSk7n8Vx1QOfOJe7Swi3pauxjBir9t-ZMkORtw2F1oXqVWNWwvGW5f6u5VkScMrvjuzi99zTFh9RTMvGZv-MBGSOtzXHDC5RIUX5QFmUVhoK4ZWR2zYyc5wC4hCu0gR/s1600/Table+built+using+pipes+and+joints+system.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZVWDIjEwnT3ktjSk7n8Vx1QOfOJe7Swi3pauxjBir9t-ZMkORtw2F1oXqVWNWwvGW5f6u5VkScMrvjuzi99zTFh9RTMvGZv-MBGSOtzXHDC5RIUX5QFmUVhoK4ZWR2zYyc5wC4hCu0gR/s1600/Table+built+using+pipes+and+joints+system.png" height="255" width="320" /></a><br />
These workstations are built using a flexible system based on tubes and joints that can be put together by anyone with non or little experience and few simple tools. In this way, people can take ownership on improving by their own, allowing faster cycles of experimentation and improvement. Some well known providers in the US and Europe are:<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
- Creform, <a href="http://www.creform.com/">www.creform.com</a><br />
- Fastube, <a href="http://www.fastube.com/">www.fastube.com</a><br />
- NIS, <a href="http://www.nisusa.com/">www.nisusa.com</a><br />
- Flowstore, <a href="http://www.flowstore.co.uk/">www.flowstore.co.uk</a></div>
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Although most of these systems were original created for manufacturing, they are evolved and used in hospitals, retailers and offices in general as you see with Kaas Tailored above. <br />
<b><br /></b><b>II. HOKS (Japan)</b></div>
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Another company with many years applying Kaizen principles is HOKS. Their policy is that anything, even vending machines, must be in wheels so continuous improvement can easily be done by all associates. As in Kaas Tailored, you can see people working standing-up with high chairs by their sides. In this case, a cost effective solution was use to increase the high of traditional desks.</div>
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Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-32281603472100456052014-09-05T12:13:00.001-04:002015-01-11T21:02:33.785-05:00Should you have a Master Black Belt in your Lean Six Sigma transformation?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The role of Master Black Belts (MBBs) is a point of controversy, confusion and even frustration. The lack of a common standard on their role, the proliferation of different organizations offering MBB certifications and the late response of the ASQ to put together a Body of Knowlege (BoK) for MBB did not help. </div>
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<b>The role of Master Black Belt according to ASQ</b></div>
The <a href="http://asq.org/cert/master-black-belt/bok" target="_blank">ASQ MBB Body of Knowledge</a> reflects a positive evolution of the Master Black Belt role. The statistical and probabilistic acumen, characteristic of Six Sigma practitioners, have been complemented by a significant doses of project management and mentoring concepts. It cautions MBBs from becoming just statistician experts to actually embrace the role of agents for meaning change at all levels of the organization.<br />
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ASQ have done an outstanding work. The topics included in the ASQ MBB body of knowledge provide a great guide to Six Sigma practitioners to understand the role that MBBs: <br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Enterprise-wide planning and deployment (25%)</li>
<li>Cross-functional competencies (15%)</li>
<li>Project management (15%)</li>
<li>Training design and delivery (10%) </li>
<li>Mentoring responsibilities (10%)</li>
<li>Advanced measurement methods and tools (25%)</li>
</ul>
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In addition, the percentage of questions, values in parenthesis, set by ASQ for each topic gives a clear direction on the relative time that MBBs might spend their role when helping organizations. with 75% dedicated to alignment, planning and mentoring. Even further, the level of mastering of each topic, as presented by ASQ using Bloom's taxonomy, ensure that topics included in the body of knowledge are treated well aligned with the expected role of MBBs. </div>
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<b>Beyond Six Sigma Training and Project Management </b></div>
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However, the ASQ MBB BoK has its limitations. The highest level of mastering in Bloom's taxanomy, "create", is mainly assigned to project and training management topics shown below: </div>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Pipeline management</li>
<li>Leadership for deployment </li>
<li>Executive and mid-level management engagement (project engagement)</li>
<li>Project status communication </li>
<li>Project management infrastructure</li>
<li>Training plans</li>
<li>Training effectiveness evaluation</li>
<li>Project reviews (Mentoring champions, change agents and executives)</li>
<li>Mentoring belts and non-belt employees</li>
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While a solid foundation for training and project management for any Six Sigma MBB practitioner are clearly necessary, the role of any MBB must refocus on becoming a <b>transformational leadership role.</b> The success and failures of the Six Sigma efforts in Motorola, Xerox and GE should be review to strengthen the role of Master Black Belts towards the success of their organizations.Why Motorola failed despite its Six Sigma successes and brilliant Master Black Belts? More analysis is needed but it is evident that Six Sigma project and training management expertise can't create sustainable adaptive organizations.<br />
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<b>To Be or Not To Be: The MBB question for your organization</b><br />
Should you include a Master Black Belt in your Lean Six Sigma deployment? It depends of many factors. For instance, "Belt" titles bring positive and, unfortunately, negative memories to cost cutting projects that meant firing people in some instances. In either case, you need to account for the connotation that MBB could mean in your organization; However, regardless whether you call it MBB or not, the transformational role is necessary to ensure Lean Six Sigma efforts last beyond the initial <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703298004574457471313938130" target="_blank">euphoria</a> </div>
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Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-83693310656543508502014-07-20T05:19:00.004-04:002015-01-12T10:04:59.106-05:00Learning SMED (Quick Changeover) Through Simulations<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Many studies show that a guided practical application is more effective than just PowerPoint presentations. That holds true when teaching Lean tools and concepts. However, finding good Lean simulations has been difficult. Here are some of the available resources that you can use to teach SMED:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWnTdD5gshQluTqCR9RLOCpCqHe_1ciZwAE9HrwzHtNtozXLE2hyhkxrDiaGx__JupF-ihemQFlXPdLXhXi_9qigoJjdfV1hsCaZvMWgqA-1KVPe1UtaCoyIyDVDBxIfuX8R6TCY5SqNgz/s1600/SMED+lumensolutions.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWnTdD5gshQluTqCR9RLOCpCqHe_1ciZwAE9HrwzHtNtozXLE2hyhkxrDiaGx__JupF-ihemQFlXPdLXhXi_9qigoJjdfV1hsCaZvMWgqA-1KVPe1UtaCoyIyDVDBxIfuX8R6TCY5SqNgz/s1600/SMED+lumensolutions.gif" height="241" width="320" /></a><br />
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<li><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/lumensolutions/smed-simulation" target="_blank">SMED DIE simulation game</a>: This Slideshare shows a nice, simple and practical version of a SMED simulation game. I learned this simulation from the Kaizen Institute Europe team few years ago. It really helps to explain the SMED steps very well. Since then I have been using this simulation with good results. It usually takes about 2-3 hours to go through all the steps. You can purchase it. An alternative metal version of this simulation game is also available in <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/exerciselean/smed-training-model-trainer-instructions1?related=2" target="_blank">Slideshare</a> but you would have to build your own.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="http://youtu.be/_XorhcFmDpM" target="_blank">SMED printing simulation video</a> 1: This video shows an alternative version, a little more complex though, but still simple and practical. I learned about this video last week thanks to Laszlo Sipos. </li>
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<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKKIlof0rzw" target="_blank">SMED printing simulation video</a> 2: This version developed by a UK-based team appears to be a fun but a little more complex option. Jose dos Reis Vieira developed a SMED printing simulation that resembles the previous simulation. Here are two videos: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cc-ru9u6ks&list=UU57lUx3HR_sIGhc79l3Dihw" target="_blank">Before</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAmy-3bSvFA&list=UU57lUx3HR_sIGhc79l3Dihw&index=2" target="_blank">After</a></li>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5neNe4pxnCCXMQr4kbGEY8nWzIjHroMZZjiNxLQHPtsB4dZg59DyY5QNpiNB8RtuFmr4JDJwKbhc9O5Efquf93oLKY5EOmlvdrSMu8hjwAnP2o5ll727UlQvXAQ_nIBsIDLa2ztuL3YL9/s1600/DSC01954.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5neNe4pxnCCXMQr4kbGEY8nWzIjHroMZZjiNxLQHPtsB4dZg59DyY5QNpiNB8RtuFmr4JDJwKbhc9O5Efquf93oLKY5EOmlvdrSMu8hjwAnP2o5ll727UlQvXAQ_nIBsIDLa2ztuL3YL9/s1600/DSC01954.JPG" height="400" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breakdown into elements during<br />
a SMED kaizen event</td></tr>
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Regardless of the simulation kit you have, use it to teach the SMED process in a way that relates to the actual application in your workplace. Simulations are simplified versions of actual problems which objective is to prepare teams to do the real thing efficiently.<br />
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A well conducted SMED simulation should explain the "WHY", the "HOW" (SMED steps) and should link to the actual condition in which it would be used. For instance, how to break a changeover process in elements and how to identify internal and external elements are two critical steps that require additional experience and explanation.<br />
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In the picture to the right, the SMED simulation was used to explain how each element should be identified using strips of paper and what information should be written down during a kaizen event conducted in a plastic molding facility.<br />
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If you know of any other simulations or resources for SMED simulation, share your experiences. I would like to know them and share with others!<br />
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<b>Few more good ideas for SMED simulation: 7/22/2014</b><br />
Here some good ideas for SMED simulations I learned from some of you after initially posting this blog <br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggK8nlTaG_8" target="_blank">The dragster</a>: Here is a video of this very fun SMED simulation game shared by Jules Attard. Although in Spanish, you can still have a good sense of the simulation.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Changing a car wheel: David Reid suggested to use an actual car to change a tire as he has done to teach SMED. I can see the benefits of doing that: you can always find a car and you might need to learn how to change a flat tire! However, I do have concerns about keeping this simulation safe for the participants. Changing a tire requires safety precautions and good tire alignment and balancing job after the simulation. So I found this fun short video that shows SMED using a tiny car: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqlcBUsr5tE" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqlcBUsr5tE</a> </li>
</ul>
I look forward to hearing more of your experiences.<br />
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Here an interesting video showing the Pit stop: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlIGI3laGAo" target="_blank">Pit stops 1950 vs 2013</a><br />
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Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-61907511598466960922014-07-07T13:17:00.000-04:002015-01-12T14:25:34.437-05:00Practical rules to make problems visible while avoiding drawbacks<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmNw0gavFD6RSxm_Xo4ZH_emwqkz1oka_Ff03X1IKT7z_DhU1QM0wvudHKScvoOIrHnb5xiXYxA32T2DY_mwwhPPuGslsQkuv5t6O43vdq80LR1guZWPwj_DgkqJFOdKldtRK7bapthxtG/s1600/Make+problems+visible.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmNw0gavFD6RSxm_Xo4ZH_emwqkz1oka_Ff03X1IKT7z_DhU1QM0wvudHKScvoOIrHnb5xiXYxA32T2DY_mwwhPPuGslsQkuv5t6O43vdq80LR1guZWPwj_DgkqJFOdKldtRK7bapthxtG/s1600/Make+problems+visible.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a>Many leaders recognize that <i>making problems visible</i> is important practice in successful organizations. It is a core kaizen (continuous improvement) principle practiced by companies such as Toyota (<a href="http://jaimevillafuerte.blogspot.com/2012/04/toyota-industrial-equipment.html" target="_blank">Post: TIEM tour...</a>), Autoliv and Medtronic (<a href="http://jaimevillafuerte.blogspot.com/2012/09/what-can-we-learn-from-medtronic-plant.html" target="_blank">Post: What can we learn...</a>) It is one of the 14 Toyota Way principles identified by Jeff Liker after studying Toyota for several years and it is also included in the Shingo Model as a part of continuous improvement dimension. However, most of the efforts to apply this principle fail. I know too many organizations fill of artifacts (e.g. whiteboards, dashboards) of good intentions but lack of understanding how to start making problems visible. <br />
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<b>The rational and emotional side of making problems visible</b><br />
Making problems visible appeals to people's rational and emotional sides or in Aristotle's terms to logos and pathos.<br />
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From a rational perspective, problems visibility brings out factual evidence which opens the way for rational argumentation. We can't fix something that we don't "see" or agree as a problem. In the book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Persuasive-Communication-Second-Edition-James/dp/1572307021" target="_blank">Persuasive Communication</a>", the authors discovered supporting evidence matters the most to influence attitude change when people is highly involved (p.132)<br />
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From the emotional side, making problems visible creates a <a href="http://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/executive/psb/lean/lessons-and-resources/lean-lessons-2014/lean-discussion-making-problems-visible.aspx" target="_blank">number of emotions </a>within people. In many cases, people feel uncomfortable and thus sets a sense of urgency for action. However, making problems visible can backfire if it is not properly done. It could create perverse behaviors such as defensiveness, blaming or even punishing others. A common reaction when a problem is exposed is to focus on finding someone responsible, "who dropped the ball?", instead of looking at the process (method, machine, material.)<br />
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<b>How do we make problems visible and avoid drawbacks?</b><br />
Here some key rules for making problems visible:<br />
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<b>+ Start with agreeing that "making a problem visible" is necessary behavior for your company. </b>Before hanging boards and filling walls with problems within your organization, make sure you are not the only one who believes that making problems visible is important for your company. Discuss about it, answer their questions and work on how it should be done. A very ineffective approach is to force people to agree on your beliefs even if you have good ones. </blockquote>
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+ <b>Define what a problem is. </b>While this might appear trivial, defining and agreeing upon what constitute a problem is a critical step to make problems visible. A simple way to define a problem is "any condition that do not meet the standard or expected condition." In this way, creating standards is necessary condition to make problems visible and then solving them (<a href="http://jaimevillafuerte.blogspot.com/2012/07/standard-work-misconception-tool.html" target="_blank">see blog about standard work and improvement cycle</a>) </blockquote>
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<b>+ Lead by example: Make your problems visible first.</b> Regardless if you lead a small department or the whole organization, start with you. Make your direct area of control the example or "model" of putting in practice the principle. If you are a Lean coach or manager supporting your organization Lean Six Sigma deployment efforts, you must make your problems and activities visible to all. Keep in mind that teaching by example is a key principle on your coaching activities.</blockquote>
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+ <b>Start simple</b>. Making problems visible is a learning process that better starts as simple as possible. Instead of looking for the perfect board or wall, start with a solution that is simple, practical and easy for other to understand. For instance, start with a small or very limited number of problems and information about them. As you and your team gain experience on making problems visible, your solution will change.</blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP4BUwNpJuPqBvDF0_Lv831uZ7Hd540kB2Shijqoe5CemDZSqdtkFe8uR-edLGZeekUru9ecHyT2Vtv2qLVCvvWFD9zr8PJ5P-1GeoqMZ0qeG4uxpDY_yyEhtH8_hTzqxPMPdj3nJGEteS/s1600/Jaime+Villafuerte-LSS+deployment+Memory+Jogger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP4BUwNpJuPqBvDF0_Lv831uZ7Hd540kB2Shijqoe5CemDZSqdtkFe8uR-edLGZeekUru9ecHyT2Vtv2qLVCvvWFD9zr8PJ5P-1GeoqMZ0qeG4uxpDY_yyEhtH8_hTzqxPMPdj3nJGEteS/s1600/Jaime+Villafuerte-LSS+deployment+Memory+Jogger.jpg" height="309" width="320" /></a><br />
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<b>+ Align your problems to the overall companies values, goals and targets so you efforts support your organization strategy</b>. A common mistake is to focus on the wrong problems or passing upstream or downstream problems that at the end will affect negatively your organization performance even though it might appear your department or area performs better.</blockquote>
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<b>+ Make it a part of a problem solving management process. </b>You won't fix problems by just making them visible. Fixing problems requires purposeful and coordinated efforts by people usually in different areas or functions. So making problems visible must be a part of your problem solving management process. In other words, once problems are made visible, they must be sorted, prioritized, assigned and solved as soon as possible. </blockquote>
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<b>The ultimate goal: develop problem solvers</b><br />
Making problems visible is about developing people as effective problem solvers not just to solve problems (As shown in the chart above.) The ultimate goal of any lean transformation is to build a culture in which every person in the organization is engaged, capable and focus to remove anything that is not creating value for their customers.It requires to see "making problems visible" as an component of an integral management system and avoid piecemeal implementation of tools. </div>
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Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-58664570398970674462014-04-01T23:57:00.000-04:002014-07-20T05:00:17.807-04:00How to avoid Lean & Six Sigma deployment mistakes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Organizations around the world spend impressive amounts of time and capital in training, consultants, books and other resources for learning and deploying performance improvement initiatives such Lean & Six Sigma. However, very few of these improvement programs actually produce significant and sustainable results. Studies show that the majority of Lean & Six Sigma initiatives failed to achieve their anticipated results despite the vast number of resources nowadays available.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-l7gcIN0yvaBqCtDCR7u-1Zd_uENDD6yP1CNLXtF27gp51dFfWxaceXfGEvV4XVL6LEMNchKYyxPYY0eBOrUftRejjTKiyfFieB2-omO8GDnlZksq5WmWPQWsdItr0lRIOusXt7mlNJDj/s1600/Fotolia_6210530_Subscription_L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-l7gcIN0yvaBqCtDCR7u-1Zd_uENDD6yP1CNLXtF27gp51dFfWxaceXfGEvV4XVL6LEMNchKYyxPYY0eBOrUftRejjTKiyfFieB2-omO8GDnlZksq5WmWPQWsdItr0lRIOusXt7mlNJDj/s1600/Fotolia_6210530_Subscription_L.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a><i><br /></i>
<i>What causes this large failure rate? What can we learn to increase our own odds of success implementing Lean or Six Sigma?</i> </div>
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Most of the available work addressing these questions provide superficial analysis offering lists of a number of reasons without actually understanding the root-causes for failure. In this article, I reflect on the underlying dynamics that cause well-intentioned and knowledgeable practitioners to fail when actually implementing Lean & Six Sigma.</div>
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<b>What is the Lean & Six Sigma implementation failure rate?</b></div>
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Data shows that the majority of Lean & Six Sigma deployment, around 80 percent, efforts fail. </div>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>A Bain & Company's survey in 2008 found that 80 percent of 184 companies responding claimed that "Lean Six Sigma efforts are failing to drive the anticipated value" and 74 percent said "they are not gaining the expected competitive edge because they haven't achieved their saving targets." (2) </li>
<li>The 2007 IndustryWeek survey identified that "only 2 percent of companies who responded to the survey have fully achieved their objectives" and "74 percentage of the responding companies admitting that they are not making good progress with Lean" (3).</li>
<li>In an article entitled "Why Lean Programs failed", Jeffrey Liker and Mike Rother, citing the IndustryWeek survey mentioned above, stated "only 2 percent of the companies that have a lean program achieved their anticipated results."(4). An assertion that does not accurate reflect the actual IndustryWeek data (see reference 3). </li>
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<i>Regardless of the precise failure rate value, the key takeaway from these studies is that Lean & Six Sigma efforts fail significantly. If you are involved or will be in Lean or Six Sigma efforts read this post. It might help you. </i><br />
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It is important to recognize that when Lean & Six Sigma initiatives fail, they don't abruptly disappear. Typically, these programs gradually fade away starved by the lack of resources. In some cases, their formal extinction is the official announcement of a new performance improvement initiative. In most cases, it is a slow process in which people are relocated little by little to other activities or eliminated from the organization. </div>
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<b>Lean & Six Sigma</b><b> popularity </b> </div>
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Lean & Six Sigma are currently the most two popular performance improvement approaches worldwide. Their relevance can be recognized by measuring the market demand for Lean & Six Sigma professionals. In 2011, it was identified by The Avery Point Group (5) that "the combined demand for Lean and Six Sigma talent has almost doubled, rising by over 90 percent versus last year's recession levels." A much faster recovery than other occupations.<br />
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The reason given to this dramatic increase is that "companies are seeking Lean and Six Sigma talent as a way to help their organizations better leverage their performance during the ongoing recovery." Moreover, IndustryWeek (2007) identified that "nearly 70% of all plants in the U.S. are currently employing Lean Manufacturing as an improvement methodology."(3) In addition, recent large investments in applying Lean in leading organizations such GE (6) shows that industry leaders recognize their relevance as performance improvement methodologies.<br />
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Lean & Six Sigma have reached other industries beyond manufacturing including service sectors such Healthcare, Banking and IT. </div>
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<b>Lean & Six Sigma abundance supply</b><br />
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT9yIUPN2xathtlTLz_YDbuS8FH0cp07UHOyXjNeDlDo-AUVffLSYGrjBiVL9QE1czPpNANtQOJS_-mFWaeBMvQ72KbS-FWCwIq8XGq5rBxdeEcn0PgR0r6kFkX_Bb3onxNYTrUPmOy6-a/s1600/shutterstock_128223488_A+high+pile+of+books+isolated+white+background.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT9yIUPN2xathtlTLz_YDbuS8FH0cp07UHOyXjNeDlDo-AUVffLSYGrjBiVL9QE1czPpNANtQOJS_-mFWaeBMvQ72KbS-FWCwIq8XGq5rBxdeEcn0PgR0r6kFkX_Bb3onxNYTrUPmOy6-a/s1600/shutterstock_128223488_A+high+pile+of+books+isolated+white+background.jpg" height="310" width="320" /></a></b></div>
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The abundance and quality of resources available to learn and implement Lean and Six Sigma is impressive. For instance, a search in Amazon.com results in over 3,200 book titles related to Lean Six Sigma. Nowadays, top-notch organizations such the American Society for Quality (ASQ), Shingo Prize, Associations for Manufacturing Excellence (AME), Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI), Kaizen Institute (KI) among many others offer a large and comprehensive supply of training courses, videos, certifications, plant visits and professional services about Lean & Six Sigma. </div>
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With all these abundance and diverse supply of Lean & Six Sigma resources, access to quality knowledge in terms of material and experts can't be a main reason for the large number of unsuccessful Lean & Six Sigma implementations. </div>
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So far we have covered three key points:<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><b>Lean & Six Sigma deployment failure is quite high around 80 percent</b>.<i> It is a real problem</i></li>
<li><b>Lean & Six Sigma are the most well-know performance improvement methodologies.</b> <i>Leaders and large number of companies recognize their value</i>.</li>
<li><b>Lean & Six Sigma resources are ubiquitously available. </b><i>There is not lack of learning resources about Lean & Six Sigma.</i> </li>
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<b>The list of common reasons for Lean & Six Sigma failure</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL_pISqKNNedAxfa1PCCNFqUHY4vFsHbByv7V3EhcDhl29SUC0bW71V1Wfcg-PKJ7ntH4ukRS-4IiybzCY_nVEDo6UrYyJ8pxKLRnNlKphXtLrtZMgDnG1_Kc3w3YueAZXYA9IDFxKjEK-/s1600/Fotolia_16848041_Subscription_L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL_pISqKNNedAxfa1PCCNFqUHY4vFsHbByv7V3EhcDhl29SUC0bW71V1Wfcg-PKJ7ntH4ukRS-4IiybzCY_nVEDo6UrYyJ8pxKLRnNlKphXtLrtZMgDnG1_Kc3w3YueAZXYA9IDFxKjEK-/s1600/Fotolia_16848041_Subscription_L.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
A common approach for many lean practitioners is to provide a list of top 5 or 10 reasons why Lean & Six Sigma deployment efforts fail. Most of these lists include the follow reasons:</div>
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<i>1. Senior management's lack of commitment/understanding of Lean or Six Sigma</i></blockquote>
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<i>2. Senior management's unwilling to accept that cultural change is often required for Lean to be a success.</i></blockquote>
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<i>3. Lack of Lean/Six Sigma skilled people in the right positions. (7)</i></blockquote>
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<i>4. The company has chosen Lean as their process improvement methodology when a different process improvement program -- or none at all -- would have been the better choice.</i></blockquote>
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While these are great checklists, they do not really explain the interaction that really happen within an organization that make or break a Lean, Six Sigma or any performance improvement deployment. It is like stating "we must have air in your tires for your car to run properly". However, if you understand how air pressure relates to your tires and interacts on how you run your car, you can make better decisions when your tires are under or over inflated. In the same way, "senior management's lack of commitment" is an obvious reason for most performance initiatives to fail. However, the question here is "why would senior management not commit to continuous improvement initiatives?" If anything, I ask you to look into the interactions that affect your organization and the success of its performance improvement initiatives.</div>
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In my next post "Beyond the check lists for Lean Six Sigma failure or success", I would discuss the most common dynamics that really make or break a performance improvement initiative. Until then, the force be with you. </div>
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<b><i>Important note:</i></b> The ideas above are built on my own experience and the experience and studies of outstanding practitioners such Jim Womack, Mike Rother, Nelson Repenning, Jeffrey Pfeffer, Robert Sutton and many others from MIT and Stanford. </div>
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References:</div>
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(1) <a href="http://www.astd.org/Publications/Magazines/TD/TD-Archive/2012/11/ASTD-2012-State-of-the-Industry-Report">http://www.astd.org/Publications/Magazines/TD/TD-Archive/2012/11/ASTD-2012-State-of-the-Industry-Report</a></div>
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(2) <a href="http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/lean-six-sigma-for-manufacturing-industry.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/lean-six-sigma-for-manufacturing-industry.aspx</a> </div>
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(3) <a href="http://www.industryweek.com/articles/everybodys_jumping_on_the_lean_bandwagon_but_many_are_being_taken_for_a_ride_15881.aspx">http://www.industryweek.com/articles/everybodys_jumping_on_the_lean_bandwagon_but_many_are_being_taken_for_a_ride_15881.aspx</a></div>
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(4) <a href="http://www.lean.org/admin/km/documents/A4FF50A9-028A-49FD-BB1F-CB93D52E1878-Liker-Rother%20Article%20v3_5_CM.pdf">http://www.lean.org/admin/km/documents/A4FF50A9-028A-49FD-BB1F-CB93D52E1878-Liker-Rother%20Article%20v3_5_CM.pdf</a></div>
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(5) <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lean-and-six-sigma-talent-demand-surges-90-over-recession-levels-seventh-annual-avery-point-group-study-finds-119755949.html">http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lean-and-six-sigma-talent-demand-surges-90-over-recession-levels-seventh-annual-avery-point-group-study-finds-119755949.html</a></div>
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(6) <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/25ee1d1a-7994-11e1-8fad-00144feab49a.html#axzz2q9cxjRIt">http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/25ee1d1a-7994-11e1-8fad-00144feab49a.html#axzz2q9cxjRIt</a></div>
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(7) <a href="http://timebackmanagement.com/blog/one-reason-why-so-many-lean-initiatives-fail/">http://timebackmanagement.com/blog/one-reason-why-so-many-lean-initiatives-fail/</a></div>
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Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-52646644257909673162013-12-11T17:44:00.001-05:002013-12-11T19:05:03.541-05:00What is the Auto Quality Matrix?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I learned about the Auto Quality Matrix from our friends in Kaizen Institute Europe. As any lean tool, you need to understand it in the context of a system instead of just copy and paste. Here some key points if you are interested on implementing it:<br />
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<b>What is it?</b><br />
A visual display of where the defect are created and where they are detected.<br />
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<b>Why to use it?</b><br />
It is part of a quality management system to quickly identify the source and prevent defects from moving downstream.<br />
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<b>How to use it?</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSYKl_JPYwh4vwILEXA_SqExOh4JpHMTMru-Cm45C-V5Q7himRrtgSd3JoNJMdg2X2xFAJj7DZnNZkpHeFB6gkP6S5G4PUOFmtf7EwaBDI-3DY1iQtZbQvROF7tJ0wMHUY_zVgHClveeRo/s1600/Auto+Quality+Matrix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSYKl_JPYwh4vwILEXA_SqExOh4JpHMTMru-Cm45C-V5Q7himRrtgSd3JoNJMdg2X2xFAJj7DZnNZkpHeFB6gkP6S5G4PUOFmtf7EwaBDI-3DY1iQtZbQvROF7tJ0wMHUY_zVgHClveeRo/s640/Auto+Quality+Matrix.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>Here is an example:</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXDj1_XwE0gBZX3dJ4HSyDISSwEzJCpE0gKDgT6HHCsLD1HSBSyAr_VOB6wjI6wUqL_8CK6q9aDTYHN07ujxtayzyT682cUNVhs2MxXpa60oWE-0GlBQKgHhl-d3rnLk4MOVMoKQe1t8KJ/s1600/Auto+Quality+Matrix+Example.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXDj1_XwE0gBZX3dJ4HSyDISSwEzJCpE0gKDgT6HHCsLD1HSBSyAr_VOB6wjI6wUqL_8CK6q9aDTYHN07ujxtayzyT682cUNVhs2MxXpa60oWE-0GlBQKgHhl-d3rnLk4MOVMoKQe1t8KJ/s640/Auto+Quality+Matrix+Example.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-81981291719143921532013-11-30T11:54:00.000-05:002013-12-09T08:14:36.093-05:00Creating Leaner Value Streams: Are the pacemaker and the bottleneck the same?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When designing leaner value streams, one key step is to define where to locate the pacemaker. However, a common misconception is to believe that the bottleneck process is the pacemaker. While a pacemaker could coincide with the bottleneck process, they mean different things.<br />
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<b>What is the bottleneck? </b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiza9uEY8NokGjWU9104GNzPEliWeE8fTTdr3rz-xfQFhgvG1Ifa0U3YhjWSn82gWOBcN7pkEh4hKdr3dz3q8TxwJPkmjjkWnJIJrgs8AM47ILDrBtkCpe0BUMDV3_-_ISSrFjwF9snFBSS/s1600/Bottleneck.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiza9uEY8NokGjWU9104GNzPEliWeE8fTTdr3rz-xfQFhgvG1Ifa0U3YhjWSn82gWOBcN7pkEh4hKdr3dz3q8TxwJPkmjjkWnJIJrgs8AM47ILDrBtkCpe0BUMDV3_-_ISSrFjwF9snFBSS/s320/Bottleneck.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<b><span style="color: purple;">The bottleneck is the constraint process in your value steam that defines your actual throughput capacity.</span></b> The bottleneck will define if you can or cannot meet your customer demand. <br />
For instance, if you have four processes as shown in the figure to the right, the bottleneck is process 2. Notice that the takt time is greater than the bottleneck. If the bottleneck cycle time (the highest cycle time in your value stream) is greater than the takt time, then we are not able to meet customer consumption. If it is lower, then you have overcapacity (waste). </div>
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<b>What is the pacemaker?</b></div>
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<b><span style="color: purple;">The pacemaker is the single scheduling point in your value stream. It sets the mix of products to produce in order to meet customer demand.</span></b> Because it is the scheduling point, the pacemaker is then the point in which push flow starts and pull ends. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE9VqLw0zdX2kdXMxVtSifoNCKvPS_VO8v64osPED0eV-5RoL9vybfBcP6iaeH7k2E6nsTbEbwBEUzk1GMDJHLH0Wm9L2swCCOz0JCIS6L12yw5cpgEGl3ALcwRWdFYWkiSMCwbM1st4Je/s1600/pacemaker.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE9VqLw0zdX2kdXMxVtSifoNCKvPS_VO8v64osPED0eV-5RoL9vybfBcP6iaeH7k2E6nsTbEbwBEUzk1GMDJHLH0Wm9L2swCCOz0JCIS6L12yw5cpgEGl3ALcwRWdFYWkiSMCwbM1st4Je/s400/pacemaker.png" width="400" /></a><b>So what is the difference?</b></div>
<div>
The difference between pacemaker and bottleneck is about what question you are trying to answer: <b><b> </b></b></div>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><b>Can we meet customer demand? </b>Answer this question by comparing the <u>bottleneck</u> throughput to the required throughput. In other words, we compare the takt time to every process cycle time, including the bottleneck process, to ensure that the consumption rate can be satisfied with the production rate.</li>
<li><b>Can we use flow in our value stream? </b>Ask this question at each process, starting at the end of your value stream and going upstream, to identify the <u>pacemaker</u>. If the answer is not, then that specific process is the pacemaker. </li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><b>In conclusion, bottleneck is about <b>throughput while pacemaker is about flow and pull.</b></b></b></blockquote>
<b>Working on the right problem at the right time</b><br />
<b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Value stream design not only requires to focus on the right problem, but also to do it at the right time and following the right order. Start with takt time to balance each of the processes, including the bottleneck, with two objective: (1) you are able to meet demand (enough capacity) and (2) </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">remove </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">unnecessary</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"> resources (too much capacity). </span></b><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Only when this first step is completed, you can focus on creating flow by setting your pacemaker. </span></b><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></b><br />
<div>
<br />
<b>Why is the pacemaker important?</b><span style="text-align: center;"> </span></div>
</div>
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By having only one scheduling point we stop overproduction as no more material will be released. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFki-dR5QtI_LkfonS2BeQ6u3vp1dtIjo7dmTAZlvuK2R6M_y-bbp7ERAs8ITqWPQAB56wCshr5IhHauTfFA4sLKHIBzAGDxwhCQxMIbrMvhyvsqQz8pIgtHo3CYQNqks7Li9zGnYpWTXv/s1600/Many+drivers.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="53" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFki-dR5QtI_LkfonS2BeQ6u3vp1dtIjo7dmTAZlvuK2R6M_y-bbp7ERAs8ITqWPQAB56wCshr5IhHauTfFA4sLKHIBzAGDxwhCQxMIbrMvhyvsqQz8pIgtHo3CYQNqks7Li9zGnYpWTXv/s400/Many+drivers.png" width="400" /></a>It is like putting only one "driver" and linking our processes so each of them run at the same speed instead of having several "drivers" at different speeds. With the pacemaker, our value stream is not only simpler, but also less expensive (we only need one driver!) and creates less work-in-process (which could be related to the distances between each truck.)</div>
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<div>
<div>
<b><br /></b><b>Theory of Constraints and the Lean Pacemaker </b></div>
<div>
Here is an interesting link about TOC and Lean in which pacemaker and bottleneck are also discussed: <a href="http://lssacademy.com/2007/04/19/toc-bottleneck-versus-lean-pacemaker_19/">http://lssacademy.com/2007/04/19/toc-bottleneck-versus-lean-pacemaker_19/</a> </div>
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Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-72865069158372705962013-10-13T07:10:00.001-04:002013-10-13T07:10:39.214-04:00Kaizen Culture: The Secret to Sustained Success<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Sharing this post that explores how Jabil has turned to a Lean manufacturing philosophy to sustain competitiveness and build a company culture focused on continuously driving out waste.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLH2WbrGgN3LbvD5D2drjMDzK8E4yyC4iHJgpnan57GIqqx6lEGOCG8RdPlKb4yZxRoj_4SYvhwwzFNmuHiRFR8-IdoatxhUekrCrdlynZjdF04S8wlkgFFbKBpLZYc5RlLy2_Vd71cVcf/s1600/jaimevillafuerte_leanculture1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLH2WbrGgN3LbvD5D2drjMDzK8E4yyC4iHJgpnan57GIqqx6lEGOCG8RdPlKb4yZxRoj_4SYvhwwzFNmuHiRFR8-IdoatxhUekrCrdlynZjdF04S8wlkgFFbKBpLZYc5RlLy2_Vd71cVcf/s400/jaimevillafuerte_leanculture1.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jaime Villafuerte in Chihuahua, Mexico</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a href="http://blogs.jabil.com/kaizen-culture-the-secret-to-sustained-success/" target="_blank">Kaizen Culture: The Secret to Sustained Success</a><br />
Posted on October 2, 2013<br />
Published on Aim Higher, Jabil's blog</div>
Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-34983649066708426352013-10-13T06:53:00.001-04:002013-10-13T06:53:06.131-04:00Changing the Organizational Behavior<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Lean transformation is about turning “lean” behaviors into habits so people develop a new better way to do things. The key question is how to create these new habits? Here is an interesting post that I explain how to change organizational behavior:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://blogs.jabil.com/behaving-badly-can-lean-continuous-improvement-be-sustained/" target="_blank">Behaving Badly – Can Lean Continuous Improvement be Sustained?</a><br />
Posted on October 7, 2013<br />
Published on Aim Higher, Jabil's blog</div>
Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-80211268380935168842013-08-11T12:06:00.002-04:002015-09-08T20:15:05.538-04:00Gemba walks versus Waste walks <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
After visiting several plants in Asia, not long ago, I found a lot of confusion among practitioners about why we do gemba walks, what really is, and how we should do it. Below is a summary of key points from practicing gemba walks for many years and from great lean practitioners such as <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gemba-Kaizen-Commonsense-Continuous-Improvement/dp/0071790357/" target="_blank">Masaaki Imai</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Creating-Kaizen-Culture-Organization-Breakthrough/dp/0071826858" target="_blank">Jon Miller</a> and others.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #073763;">What is Gemba Walk?</span></b><br />
Gemba walk is a "go and see" practice with aim to understand the current condition of your value creation process (value stream) with the purpose to develop the problem solving capabilities of your people.<br />
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Gemba walks shape behaviors based on at least four lean values or principles:<br />
<ol>
<li>Observe problems first hand (go and see) </li>
<li>Embrace scientific problem solving (PDCA)</li>
<li>Focus on value streams</li>
<li>Lead with humility (respect people intelligence) </li>
</ol>
<b><span style="color: #073763;">Gemba walks versus waste walks</span></b><br />
It worries me that some lean practitioners are confusing gemba walks with waste walks. They are quite different. Waste walks purpose is to develop "eyes for waste". As Shigeo Shingo rightly stated “The most dangerous kind of waste is the waste we do not recognize”, a waste walk aims to recognize the waste by actually going to see the gemba with the help of a seasoned lean practitioner.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A great reference to learn more about waste walk and even to download a template is provided by LEI in the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Perfecting-Patient-Journeys-Judy-Worth/dp/1934109363/" target="_blank">"Perfecting patient Journeys"</a>: <a href="http://www.lean.org/common/display/?o=2222">http://www.lean.org/common/display/?o=2222</a> </blockquote>
"The Seven deadly wastes" were created by Taiichi Ohno as he also recognized the challenges to help people see the waste within their own processes. However, Ohno's approach to develop "eyes for waste" was less walking and much more standing and observing. <br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #073763;">Ohno's approach to Waste walks: Stand in the Circle</span></b><br />
Ohno's approach makes managers to draw a chalk circle around and stand in to observe a process for hours without leaving the circle. Jeffry Liker in his book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071448934" target="_blank">"The Toyota Way Field"</a> describes this approach with a little more color: <i>"members are left standing for eight hours or more before the sensei is satisfied that they have seriously seen the waste."</i> While it may appear a harsh approach, this exercise makes evident how difficult is to identify waste particularly in processes we are familiar with.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Jon Miller provides a little less harsh approach to Ohno's one in these two posts: <a href="http://www.gembapantarei.com/2007/03/give_me_60_minutes_and_ill_giv.html" target="_blank">Give me 60 minutes and I'll give you a lean transformation</a> and <a href="http://www.gembapantarei.com/2008/01/101_kaizen_templates_stand_in_the_circle.html" target="_blank">101 Kaizen Templates: Stand in the Circle</a>. </blockquote>
<b><span style="color: #073763;"></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">Similarly, I use <i>waste walks </i>to teach managers how to identify <i>waste</i> in their processes and <i>less about walking</i>. In fact, I asked them to stand and don't walk at all. </span></span></b><br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #073763;">The purpose of gemba walk: Beyond waste hunting</span></b>
<br />
<div>
<div style="color: #222222;">
The purpose of gemba walk is to understand the current condition of your value creation process (value stream) at four levels: purpose, process, people and problem solving. <br />
<ul style="color: black;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW_r8IS6Nyj4jjABiE6RdHJx0zkALdL4_Q3-CY_7tetvvN6kmZCoNZG3mfpu97lSHmZLPloxJozfUqMMxwDLEUciu33MVyrUhhyMXBddm6iH7Cvdf7uDBm0T-4rdCNpe7wMjIYkBHWm6e4/s1600/lean-transformation-4P.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW_r8IS6Nyj4jjABiE6RdHJx0zkALdL4_Q3-CY_7tetvvN6kmZCoNZG3mfpu97lSHmZLPloxJozfUqMMxwDLEUciu33MVyrUhhyMXBddm6iH7Cvdf7uDBm0T-4rdCNpe7wMjIYkBHWm6e4/s320/lean-transformation-4P.gif" width="320" /></a>
<li><span style="color: #222222;"><b>Purpose:</b> What customer's problem are we solving (value creation)? </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222;"><b>Process:</b> How do our processes work?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222;"><b>People:</b> How do our people work? </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222;"><b>Problem solving:</b> How are problems identified and solved? </span></li>
</ul>
Gemba walks are about continuous improvement which drives waste out of processes. However, it should not be about waste hunting at all. Gemba walks that focus on generating to-do improvement lists without developing the level of the problem solving, process and people do little to sustain or create continuous improvement. The wrong mindset will drive the wrong behaviors.</div>
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Jim Womack explains the purpose of the gemba walk: "...truly understand the value stream and its problems rather than review results or make superficial comments": <a href="http://www.lean.org/womack/DisplayObject.cfm?o=1869" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">http://www.lean.org/womack/<wbr></wbr>DisplayObject.cfm?o=1869</a></blockquote>
<strong><span style="color: #073763;">Where:</span></strong><br />
Gemba walks must be done where the value is created: at the gemba. <br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #073763;">How:</span></b><br />
<b>1. Select a particular value stream:</b> start at the closest process step to your customer and follow the value flow backwards through different departments, functions and areas. Keep in mind that value creation process is a horizontal flow while most organizations are vertically structured<br />
<b>2. Invite every value-stream owner: </b>employees, middle managers and leaders who are part of the value stream<br />
<b>3. Ask about</b>: purpose, process, people and level of problem solving<br />
<br />
A gemba walk is not the place or the time to fix problems, but to understand the level of problem solving. For instance, when walking throughout a value stream start by asking the following questions:<br />
<div>
<ul>
<li><i>Is the TARGET condition at each process step understood?</i></li>
<li><i>Is the ACTUAL condition at each process step known? </i></li>
<li><i>Do the obstacles/problems that prevent to reach the target condition identified?</i></li>
<li><i>Which obstacles are being addressed right now?</i></li>
<li><i>What are the next obstacles to be addressed later? </i></li>
<li><i>Do learning and sharing is occurring?</i></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
</div>
Notice that above questions are not aimed to fix problems or suggest solutions.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Jon Miller proposes 10 practical rules to follow when leading a gemba walk: <a href="http://www.gembapantarei.com/2012/01/10_rules_for_good_gemba_walks.html" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">http://www.gembapantarei.com/<wbr></wbr>2012/01/10_rules_for_good_<wbr></wbr>gemba_walks.html</a></blockquote>
<b><span style="color: #073763;">Who:</span></b><br />
Every value-stream owner including leaders, functional managers, supervisors and all employees who are involved in the value stream.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #073763;">When:</span></b><br />
Frequency of gemba walks should increase for people closer to the value creation. Daily gemba walks must be part of daily management systems in order to understand the current condition. Middle and senior management should do it several times a year as a way to break silos and functional barriers and grasp the value creation process.</div>
Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-13313801780201397102013-04-08T20:39:00.000-04:002013-07-31T20:18:08.873-04:00Managing your lean transformation<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lean Six Sigma Deployment Memory Jogger, 2012</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Lean transformation</b> is about managing "people learning" instead of implementing "lean solutions."<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Companies with sustainable superior performance such as Google, Southwest Airlines and Toyota have one common denominator: Processes that allow harvesting their people ingenuity and energy better than their competitors.</b></blockquote>
Southwest Airlines cost advantage derives from very capable, productive and motivated employees who look for ways to survive and thrive in an industry plague of bankruptcies, no barriers to entry, many substitute products and non proprietary technology. Google's constant innovation is driven by an organizational environment that allows people to be creative and focused.<br />
<br />
These companies are managing their transformation by leveraging their people capabilities instead of spending effort on copying solutions.<br />
<br />
How is your company managing its lean transformation?</div>
Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-53574825663884096172013-04-08T20:30:00.000-04:002013-07-31T20:18:52.391-04:00The KAIZEN CULTURE as competitive advantage<br />
<b>Managers</b> rush to improve operation effectiveness through kaizen events to quickly implement kanban and mistake-proofing solutions confusing them as the source of sustainable superior performance. This is what I call the "wrong" lean.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLBuj4D5mUKqHASDthrOs3zJq0iWRMqsaxYoNcjYTkl-ph9woBRx_xY3xnUWk_ErT9fYMnIJV-N7AWydyPpoUkJJ-ws1bHYVpd09AGdp4anGBVkkbHwHHnV36RS_wfpc6LE-SwpwyemfKQ/s1600/Creating+a+kaizen+culture.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLBuj4D5mUKqHASDthrOs3zJq0iWRMqsaxYoNcjYTkl-ph9woBRx_xY3xnUWk_ErT9fYMnIJV-N7AWydyPpoUkJJ-ws1bHYVpd09AGdp4anGBVkkbHwHHnV36RS_wfpc6LE-SwpwyemfKQ/s320/Creating+a+kaizen+culture.png" width="217" /></a><b>If your lean transformation</b> efforts are oriented to implement "lean solutions" on the idea that these solutions will recreate the competitive advantage that we see in Toyota or Southwest Airlines, your changes for success are as good as 2%. I wish you the best of lucks. You will need it.<br />
<b><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></b>The term "transformation" in lean transformation does not refer to changing your operation processes but <b>to change your people dynamics and capabilities to identify, prioritize, solve problems and share improvements continuously which is the source of competitive advantage of a lean organization</b>. This is what I call the "right" lean or "kaizen culture"<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span>
For instance, Southwest Airlines practices to delivery low-cost and convenient service such as quick plane turnarounds at the gate are not the source its competitive advantage but how its people are organized to identify these practices and execute them. In the same way, Toyota superior operation effectiveness is result of how its people can continuously deliver reliable, high-quality and low-cost automobiles faster than its competitors.<br />
<br />
What lean are you doing: "wrong lean" or the "kaizen way"?<br />
<br />Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-14383893617959399762013-02-21T18:23:00.001-05:002013-08-26T03:45:47.325-04:00Lean transformation is more than Operation Effectiveness<b><span style="color: #073763;">
If you believe that Lean is about operation effectiveness, you most likely
would fail on creating a sustainable superior performance.</span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsH6N9XGA0LJ0ovmsrz96yfg60cTIAaXTi_p4z0Q-kHkvWXQi7TFLBHjxVVqp7DSJtD4vc__31Ike9wU2-gTLYE0ZfBtl_DtjycAhHoLRQYn7ocNDwkdUxpnAY-KdjFPwC3QdPiw-DTu7Q/s1600/lean-transformation-150.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsH6N9XGA0LJ0ovmsrz96yfg60cTIAaXTi_p4z0Q-kHkvWXQi7TFLBHjxVVqp7DSJtD4vc__31Ike9wU2-gTLYE0ZfBtl_DtjycAhHoLRQYn7ocNDwkdUxpnAY-KdjFPwC3QdPiw-DTu7Q/s1600/lean-transformation-150.gif" /></a><b>Michael Porter</b>, perhaps the world’s most known business-school professor, in his “<i>What is Strategy?</i>” paper, clearly stated that Lean and other operation effectiveness practices are not competitive advantages. Professor Porter is right when states that Operation Effectiveness is not a competitive advantage but wrong about defining Lean as Operation Effectiveness, a common mistake made by even lean practitioners.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #666666;">Porter defined <b>Operation Effectiveness</b> as<i> </i>“<i>performing similar activities better than rivals perform them</i>”. He
expanded by adding “<i>It refers to any number of practices that
allow a company to better utilize its inputs by, for example, reducing defects in
products or developing better products faster</i>”. </span></blockquote>
If you believe that the Toyota Production System or Lean, a term coined by James Womack after studying Toyota, refers to these "<i>number of practices</i>" or "lean solutions" to gain operation effectiveness you are making a common but fatal mistake.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #666666;">Here is some data. In 2007, an IndustryWeek study showed that only 2% of the companies implementing lean manufacturing have fully achieved their objectives and 74% recognized not making good progress. And not long ago, in 2010, after several awarded companies by the Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence failed to sustain their Lean transformation and even filed for bankruptcy, the award committee recognized its selection criteria required adjustment. In fact, if you believe that the core of a lean transformation is operation effectiveness you might speed your own demise. </span></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #073763;">The KAIZEN CULTURE as competitive advantage</span></b><br />
Managers rush to improve operation effectiveness through kaizen events to quickly implement kanban and <br />
mistake-proofing solutions confusing them as the source of sustainable superior performance. This is what I call the "wrong" lean.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLBuj4D5mUKqHASDthrOs3zJq0iWRMqsaxYoNcjYTkl-ph9woBRx_xY3xnUWk_ErT9fYMnIJV-N7AWydyPpoUkJJ-ws1bHYVpd09AGdp4anGBVkkbHwHHnV36RS_wfpc6LE-SwpwyemfKQ/s1600/Creating+a+kaizen+culture.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLBuj4D5mUKqHASDthrOs3zJq0iWRMqsaxYoNcjYTkl-ph9woBRx_xY3xnUWk_ErT9fYMnIJV-N7AWydyPpoUkJJ-ws1bHYVpd09AGdp4anGBVkkbHwHHnV36RS_wfpc6LE-SwpwyemfKQ/s320/Creating+a+kaizen+culture.png" width="217" /></a>
If your lean transformation efforts are oriented to implement "lean solutions" on the idea that these solutions will recreate the competitive advantage that we see in Toyota or Southwest Airlines, your changes for success are as good as 2%. I wish you the best of lucks. You will need it.<br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>The term "transformation" in lean transformation does not refer to changing your operation processes but to change your people dynamics and capabilities to identify, prioritize, solve problems and share improvements continuously which is the source of competitive advantage of a lean organization. This is what I call the "right" lean or "kaizen culture"<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span>For instance, Southwest Airlines practices to delivery low-cost and convenient service such as quick plane turnarounds at the gate are not the source its competitive advantage but how its people are organized to identify these practices and execute them. In the same way, Toyota superior operation effectiveness is result of how its people can continuously deliver reliable, high-quality and low-cost automobiles faster than its competitors.<br />
<br /></div>
<b><span style="color: #073763;">Managing your lean transformation</span></b><br />
<b>Lean transformation</b> is about managing "people learning" instead of implementing "lean solutions."<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Companies with sustainable superior performance such as Google, Southwest Airlines and Toyota have one common denominator: Processes that allow harvesting their people ingenuity and energy better than their competitors.</b></blockquote>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP4BUwNpJuPqBvDF0_Lv831uZ7Hd540kB2Shijqoe5CemDZSqdtkFe8uR-edLGZeekUru9ecHyT2Vtv2qLVCvvWFD9zr8PJ5P-1GeoqMZ0qeG4uxpDY_yyEhtH8_hTzqxPMPdj3nJGEteS/s1600/Jaime+Villafuerte-LSS+deployment+Memory+Jogger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP4BUwNpJuPqBvDF0_Lv831uZ7Hd540kB2Shijqoe5CemDZSqdtkFe8uR-edLGZeekUru9ecHyT2Vtv2qLVCvvWFD9zr8PJ5P-1GeoqMZ0qeG4uxpDY_yyEhtH8_hTzqxPMPdj3nJGEteS/s320/Jaime+Villafuerte-LSS+deployment+Memory+Jogger.jpg" width="320" /></a>Southwest Airlines cost advantage derives from very capable, productive and motivated employees who look for ways to survive and thrive in an industry plague of bankruptcies, no barriers to entry, many substitute products and non proprietary technology. Google's constant innovation is driven by an organizational environment that allows people to be creative and focused.<br />
<br />
These companies are managing their transformation by leveraging their people capabilities instead of spending effort on copying solutions.<br />
<br />
What lean are you doing: "wrong lean" or the "kaizen way"?Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-55766127501884707422013-02-04T23:26:00.000-05:002013-08-28T14:45:58.966-04:00Lean Six Sigma at Jabil: ASQ presentation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
Inviting all lean practitioners in the Tampa area to my next presentation entitled <b><i>"Lean Six Sigma transformation: making it to stick"</i></b> at ASQ Tampa/St. Petersburg Section.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1bFfxsi6iJ1Hm5l8GkEdnQt2Ept9dD3aTR7OPFd5gA_mOJYy9P-ZZ9pHa4MNbMS0VZCnjQB2bX6OKgTuW-tjWxXabRAcYx2a_oM3dEJ9zwp_Y8WIJh5Apxqm9cpDJ7WwGntpvfdtCeoEM/s1600/CUU+LEAN+Group+Shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1bFfxsi6iJ1Hm5l8GkEdnQt2Ept9dD3aTR7OPFd5gA_mOJYy9P-ZZ9pHa4MNbMS0VZCnjQB2bX6OKgTuW-tjWxXabRAcYx2a_oM3dEJ9zwp_Y8WIJh5Apxqm9cpDJ7WwGntpvfdtCeoEM/s320/CUU+LEAN+Group+Shot.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b>Date:</b> February 11, 2013<br />
<b>Time:</b> 7:00 pm<br />
<b>Location:</b> St Petersburg Clearwater Marriott<br />
12600 Roosevelt Boulevard<br />
St. Petersburg, FL 33716<br />
<br />
Despite of all the resources and efforts that many organizations have committed to become Lean Six Sigma, evidence of truly successful transformation are scared. A recent large survey found that only 2 percent of companies that have a Lean Six Sigma program achieved their anticipated results. Even more, the Shingo Prize and the National Quality Baldrige organizations that give awards for operational excellence, went back to past winners and found that many had failed to sustain their progress.Why is so difficult? Why to many failed? What can we do?<br />
<br />
This presentation will address these questions and provide insight look of how Jabil, a 130,000+ employee company with HQ in Saint Petersburg, is facing these challenge. <br />
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<br />
Click <a href="http://www.asqtampabay.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=70jaII7Q_ZU%3d&tabid=75&mid=454" target="_blank">here</a> to download this presentation.</div>
Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-82354688805096873532012-09-19T12:05:00.000-04:002013-07-31T20:51:38.299-04:00Making value stream mapping a success: "Mind and Hand"<span style="font-family: arial;">I see too often </span><span style="font-family: arial;">wasteful "<i>lean</i>" efforts focused on mapping value streams that would not be followed by actual implementation. They are used to decorate conference rooms, to fill Powerpoint presentations and to feature videos. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: arial;">It is absolutely necessary to know your current and target condition to define what actions we should take as part of the Plan-Do-Check-Act but with mapping we haven't accomplish anything yet. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: arial;">Last weekend, Dean Schmittlein "revealed" the secret of success of MIT as organization to create value: </span><b style="font-family: arial;">relentless application of its "mind and hand" principle </b><span style="font-family: arial;">which appears in MIT's logo</span><span style="font-family: arial;">. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Here some data on MIT's "mind and hand" principle in action:</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk0fiyyk7c-s_FoAt0oOjDZRXe_CfVSXO2VW6oHHtoEdRDKXtd1qrJSE3RirlhkiOYFkDtaRk0dO084JqGjfb1lGLQyj7ltHKwSqJJJEwOoTkpjaKKv-nlIGG966cklJRdMzxetL1LADhs/s1600/MIT+Logo+-+Jaime+Villafuerte.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk0fiyyk7c-s_FoAt0oOjDZRXe_CfVSXO2VW6oHHtoEdRDKXtd1qrJSE3RirlhkiOYFkDtaRk0dO084JqGjfb1lGLQyj7ltHKwSqJJJEwOoTkpjaKKv-nlIGG966cklJRdMzxetL1LADhs/s200/MIT+Logo+-+Jaime+Villafuerte.gif" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Mens et Manus"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: arial;">Companies found by living MIT alumni employ 3.3. million people and generate world revenues of $2 trillion, "</span><i style="font-family: arial;">producing the equivalent of the 11th-largest economy in the world.</i><span style="font-family: arial;">"</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Thomas A. Edison</b> who was well known for practicing the "mind and hand" principle once said "</span><i style="font-family: arial;">The salvation of America lies in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology</i><span style="font-family: arial;">". And, i</span><span style="font-family: arial;">t is not by accident that James Womack and other scientists re-discovered </span><b style="font-family: arial;">"lean thinking"</b><span style="font-family: arial;"> while working in MIT's International Motor Vehicle Program.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: arial;">While "mind and hand" really is not a secret, it is one of these key principles for success for any lean transformation. It is the same </span><b style="font-family: arial;">"learning by doing" </b><span style="font-family: arial;">principle used by Toyota and other lean organizations to describe the active approach to develop people. Even before Toyota, the Training Within Industry (TWI) program and definitely Deming's PDCA style for training programs </span><span style="font-family: arial;">used the same principle.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: arial;">Next time that someone shows you a value stream map as the "mind and hand" question: "can we go and see what you are doing to reach your target condition?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span>
<br />Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-12931300617406772552012-09-07T10:55:00.000-04:002012-09-07T19:46:12.601-04:00What can we learn from Medtronic Plant in Jacksonville, FL?Not long ago I had the opportunity to visit the Medtronic plant in Jacksonville, FL and talked with their CI manager, Chad, and the operations manager, Emmanuel, to whom I thank for the opportunity. It was a refreshing experience on what Lean really is about. Here, key learning points that I would like to share with you:<br />
<div>
<ul>
<li><b>Keep it simple</b>, lean thinking and solutions strive for its simplicity; which is different from simplistic. An example is their policy deployment approach: <i>one wall, key drivers cascading down to specific task and actions that anyone can see</i>. A simple and elegant solution:</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
</ul>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj854fIXiPByysuSPGSqRKsa6qGHLKmTpr9LFzfJUads_GK0zLiQDSIf_fesw_o3JMd50yM2Hfba1F2ULkCtD8JZkGjOIh5Rz5fVPz3bDawU2vEnwSaxJ1UDw5dwhYIzpb8_jbHhsb6ZH99/s1600/Policy+Deployment+-+Jaime+Villafuerte.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Policy Deployment - Medtronic" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj854fIXiPByysuSPGSqRKsa6qGHLKmTpr9LFzfJUads_GK0zLiQDSIf_fesw_o3JMd50yM2Hfba1F2ULkCtD8JZkGjOIh5Rz5fVPz3bDawU2vEnwSaxJ1UDw5dwhYIzpb8_jbHhsb6ZH99/s640/Policy+Deployment+-+Jaime+Villafuerte.jpg" title="" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<ul>
<li><b><b>Make it visual</b>,</b> if we don't see what is wrong, little chance that we would deal with it. An example is their daily management board, take a look:</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhfpuGSatev16kmdqpKS3d7AdWGon5S70MZfQQSTongMaj8CDBZf5QkxA3xdwdCQC-P0_Qg_MbRexlSIEFCOT9jUuD4Ze1BJXzft2kdBpXB700hnXNJs6AFEKRfj0WC5CR02sMeanO6bzs/s1600/Daily+Mgmt+board+-+Jaime+Villafuerte.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhfpuGSatev16kmdqpKS3d7AdWGon5S70MZfQQSTongMaj8CDBZf5QkxA3xdwdCQC-P0_Qg_MbRexlSIEFCOT9jUuD4Ze1BJXzft2kdBpXB700hnXNJs6AFEKRfj0WC5CR02sMeanO6bzs/s640/Daily+Mgmt+board+-+Jaime+Villafuerte.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
These are two of the key principles that we always need to remind ourselves and others.</div>
Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-52870805508411438142012-08-30T11:55:00.001-04:002012-08-30T12:45:42.698-04:00Do you solve problems like a physician or scientist?<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are better prepared to drive Lean Six Sigma b</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">y understanding that people approach problems differently. One approach is commonly used by physicians to diagnose patients and another approach is used by scientists. To illustrate these two different but also opposite approaches, let's imagine two people facing the same problem; one uses a physician-like approach while the other a scientist-like approach :</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Problem: "Machine A cooling process stopped when running product C"</b></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Physician-like approach</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">: What are the 3 most common causes for stoppages in this process? Which one is most likely to happen? Set an action plan based on the experience with previous solutions from a similar case.</span>
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this approach, symptoms are gathered and a treatment plan is set to address the most likely cause. P</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ast solutions are evaluated based on the symptoms and try until the problem disappears. Most likely, you see this approach when visiting your family physician. </span></i>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Scientist approach</b>: Why did the cooling process stop in this particular case? Level of water exceeded the maximum level? Why? Why?... and Why? until the root-cause for this specific problem is identified and validated.</span>
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this approach, the particular problem is analyzed by using 5Whys or any other method to identify the root cause.</span> </i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Which approach is the best?</b> It depends. While the physician approach might be faster to solve the problem, the scientist approach gives you the most about understanding the process. </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If we see problems as opportunities to learn more about the process instead of just making them disappear, a scientist-like approach - or PDCA in lean terms - is required. </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the eyes of a good sensei, when solving a problem, one will fail if learning did not happen whether or not the problem went away. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"What did you learn from the problem?"</i> is a common question of a good sensei would ask to ensure we have learn by using a scientist approach </span>Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-85177630081205205252012-07-28T03:18:00.000-04:002013-07-31T02:22:29.027-04:00Why Standard Work fails<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I see a lot of lean practitioners missing the point of Standard work. Too often, standard work is implemented as step of a Lean Six Sigma Deployment without really understanding their purpose. As result, </span>I visit too many plans in which standard work is used to show customers they are doing "lean" or just to check the box of a their continuous improvement plan. However, little or none value is gained from having it.<br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b></b></span>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-7V33QEhAjROxMQ9PVzXOR8KzrsT__WtNJzjBv9Q_VKwI7atwzjUwdWHxGSZ9fkGBq0Ky_bkverPbxeX7_PrQxrc38SVVlakvYsnQpizA-xlTx5TDrvjV8un5XNZcGLLg1A32s035JKRq/s1600/Cycle+of+Improvement+-+Standard+Work.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-7V33QEhAjROxMQ9PVzXOR8KzrsT__WtNJzjBv9Q_VKwI7atwzjUwdWHxGSZ9fkGBq0Ky_bkverPbxeX7_PrQxrc38SVVlakvYsnQpizA-xlTx5TDrvjV8un5XNZcGLLg1A32s035JKRq/s400/Cycle+of+Improvement+-+Standard+Work.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Lean Six Sigma Deployment Memory Jogger</b>, page 68</span></span>
<br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></td></tr>
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</span><br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #222222;">Standard work is just one step from a SYSTEM FOR IMPROVEMENT as presented in the "</span></span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Cycle of Improvement" from the <i>Lean Six Sigma Deployment Memory Jogger (page 68.) </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">In this cycle, problems are made visible thanks to standardized expectations and then kaizen (continuous improvement) can be done to meet these expectations. That is why we say "There is not kaizen without standard work"; but it is also true "there is not standard work without kaizen" as performance naturally decays. Standard work then is a result to a system for improvement. <i> </i></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Having standard work without the system for improvement is like having a fish without water. It is unsustainable.</b></span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Contrary to the common approach of standard work, learn from traditional Industrial Engineering programs, standard work should not be the objective by itself</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">, it is the means to the end: a cycle of kaizen.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">A </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">system </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #222222;">for improvement requires processes in which </span></span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #222222;">supervisors and team leaders know how to use the Standard work following the 4 steps of the cycle of improvement shown above.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #222222;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>We use Standard work to eliminate waste, but if we create Standard work without the system nor teaching how to use it, we have only created more waste. </b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>Are you creating more waste?</b></span><br />
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Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-42471233319253537802012-06-20T22:01:00.001-04:002013-08-27T14:42:37.082-04:00My contribution to all lean practitioners<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
With the help of the publishers of Memory Joggers, GOAL/QPC, I am pleased to share with all lean practioners this quick reference handbook that provides the lean six sigma principles, methodologies and tools in a simple and visual way to be shared in the gemba.
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While lean is simple, teaching it to others requires a thoughtful approach. In this handbook, I share my 10 years of experience on doing lean in a practical and visual way.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGcT_uELmxPEBlc9s99JxFUqp8h_PBbwbGxdQPaK63-eHLJWD3nURR91zy1V6Od2U-wRZ4BCoJVoRKnXnEPtT5MEDACA76y21Tzi3s7iPdjizwBqz9QITzmeIqsnCYfvhLE1enY7yGe1bF/s1600/leansixsigmaJaimeVillafuerte.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGcT_uELmxPEBlc9s99JxFUqp8h_PBbwbGxdQPaK63-eHLJWD3nURR91zy1V6Od2U-wRZ4BCoJVoRKnXnEPtT5MEDACA76y21Tzi3s7iPdjizwBqz9QITzmeIqsnCYfvhLE1enY7yGe1bF/s640/leansixsigmaJaimeVillafuerte.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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It is a simple and concise visual learning tool experience for those that want understand the methodologies, tools, and principles of Lean Six Sigma. You can use it as a quick reference guide, kaizen learning tool, a problem solving workbook, identification of waste and kaizen ideas, or a self-paced preparation guide.<br />
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Click <a href="http://www.goalqpc.com/shop_products_detail.cfm?PID=1179&PageNum_GetProducts=1&ProductShopBy=7" target="_blank">here</a> to download the first chapter<br />
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To Order an e-book or a printed version, please do so through the <a href="http://www.goalqpc.com/shop_products_detail.cfm?PID=1179&PageNum_GetProducts=1&ProductShopBy=7" target="_blank">GOAL/QPC website</a>.</div>
Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-4712311826066620882012-05-15T04:27:00.000-04:002012-05-16T05:05:41.357-04:00Lean at Jabil: Sensei, Shingo, and Synergy<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I want to share this article from Jabil Blog Aim Higher: <span style="background-color: white; color: #008a5e;">Lean at Jabil: Sensei, Shingo, and Synergy.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> What you will find interesting is that Jabil has actively engaging </span><i style="background-color: white;">'innovative, successful Lean industry leaders'</i><span style="background-color: white;"> to surround Jabil Lean teams with excellence.</span></span><br />
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Jabil’s Jaime Villafuerte recently presented at the<em style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <a href="http://blogs.jabil.com/creating-a-company-with-100000-problem-solvers/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #008a5e; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="IW Best Plants Conference presentation by Jabil's Jaime Villafuerte">IndustryWeek </a></em><a href="http://blogs.jabil.com/creating-a-company-with-100000-problem-solvers/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #008a5e; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="IW Best Plants Conference presentation by Jabil's Jaime Villafuerte">Best Plants Conference</a> in Indiana. After Jaime’s presentation, many attendees remarked on the amount of time Jabil spends training employees and the level of participation from executives, suppliers and customers. In fact, several Jabil customers expressed an interest in additional involvement in Jabil’s Lean training activities.<br />
Lean teams take continuous improvement seriously. In order to achieve certification, teams must complete a number of projects, present their projects to other teams, and demonstrate improvements. Projects range from financial reporting and business intelligence tools to communication mechanisms and operational workflows. Whatever the project, Lean projects bring people together to find better solutions. Wilson Cavalcante, Quality Manufacturing Manager at Jabil Manaus facility, notes that one of the outcomes of the Lean projects is “Outstanding synergy created within the team.”<br />
Jabil’s continuous improvement philosophy and commitment to operational excellence are deeply embedded in Jabil’s culture and, through Lean training, are regularly assessed and rewarded.</blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To read full article on how Jabil has drawing inspiration from Lean Sensei and Shingo Prize Winning Operation</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">' </span><a href="http://blogs.jabil.com/lean-at-jabil-sensei-shingo-and-synergy/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;" target="_blank">click here</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">Source: </span><a href="http://blogs.jabil.com/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;" target="_blank">Jabil Blog Aim Higher</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">, May 14, 2012.</span></div>
</div>Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4603112743673504083.post-3136033546313818392012-04-30T19:16:00.000-04:002012-05-16T03:50:55.804-04:00Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing (TIEM) Tour<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.iwbestplants.com/images/planttours/TIEMpic.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.toyotaforklift.com/pages/about-us/our-company/virtual-tour.aspx" target="_blank">Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing (TIEM)</a>, a zero-landfill facility in Columbus, IN.<br />
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<b>Key learnings:</b><br />
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<li>Toyota Production System: highest standards of quality and efficiency. </li>
<li>"Just-in-time" production system: aims to smooth the work flow, reduce inventories and lower production costs.</li>
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<br /></div>Jaime Villafuertehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02806662909267741318noreply@blogger.com9